Quantum Leap: Virtual Leaper
by Jason Michael Bremer
Summary: Sam has leap many times before, but this time he may be in over his head. Sam is stuck in a loop of quick leaps with no help from Al or the project. He may never get out of this leap and may never get home.


**Chapter One**

 **Monday June 2, 1956**

The success of a leap always made Sam feel great. His current leap had him dressed up as a clown at a circus. He had been there for ten minutes before he had to go out on the floor. Looking in a mirror, he had a thought run through his head, a memory. A faint memory as a kid at a circus in Indiana. He was only ten at the time but he remembered the smell of popcorn in the air. The sticky floor of spilled Coke. The memory put a smile on his face however the smile was short lived as his large clown shoes stepped into horse manure. "Ah nuts." Sam stated as he walked away from the mess. This made the memory of his trip to the circus a distant memory.

At this time Sam was ready to leave. Where was Al at? He never showed up when you really need him. His excuses were like the manure on his shoe…they were Crap. "Oh I was at the Lakers game. They went into overtime." This was a usual excuse Al had told Sam. I am certain Al expected Sam to come back with the answer "Oh its ok. I hope you are enjoying yourself." Then Sam would mutter to himself, "I could be dying and you would be there sitting at the game eating your hotdog, drinking your Coke. Don't worry about me."

At this point Sam continued looking at himself in a fun house style mirror. He was certain that the mirror itself didn't make him look ridiculous; it was the outfit, the makeup, and the red nose that made him look that way. Sam was never really a fan of clowns but he was definitely not scared of them. "Are you ready to go on?" stated a guy unknown to Sam. "On? Where do I go?" Sam hated when this happened. "We have gone over this Bubbles. You head that way." Bubbles? Sam thought. What a wonderful name for a clown he mocked. Bubbles the Clown, kids will love him, he thought. "Sure I am ready." Sam continued the sentence in his head, "As I'll ever be." The man across from him wore a dirty hat. His hair was dirty red in color. His mustache was red and covered his mouth when he didn't speak. His clothes were filthy. In fact it looked as if he hadn't bathed in months. And the smell from him was a mix of alcohol and the manure he had stepped in moments earlier. "Well you got 5 minutes to go out and perform. Make sure to grab your bubble maker over there. Your name wouldn't be Bubbles without the bubbles." The man snorted and he made a goofy smirk on his face when he stated that. Sam's eyes rolled as he turned to head towards the circus floor.

The shoes were 3 times the size of Sam's normal shoes, which made it very difficult to walk. During this walk down a dark and damp tunnel, he was thinking of Al again and wishing he was here to tell him what he was to do to get the hell out of here. Sam wasn't much of a goofball or a clown type. He really didn't enjoy clowning around and this leap was not something he looked forward to do. He entered the floor and noticed the sheer size of the tent and this made things even more intimidating. The crowd was huge. Children were smiling and laughing from the anticipation that the circus was about to begin. Cotton candy in one hand and balloons in the other. Near Sam was a child who yelled, "Bubbles! We love you!" Sam gave a wave and a smirk towards the kid.

Sam was actually starting to enjoy this. He eyes were big as he stared at the crowed. The growl of the tiger he passed made him laugh like he was ten years old again at his first circus. All this amazement and excitement was quickly overturned as Sam's shoes hit a two by four piece of wood and Sam went tumbling down to the ground. He got up and picked up the two by four and examined it. "Stupid piece of wood. Who would have left this here?" Sam stated as he put the wood to the side where nobody could do the same thing. He was laughing at the thought of the kids watching him trip.

Ten feet from where he was Sam heard a noise. Without any notice a steel beam fell down in front of him. Nobody was standing on the spot the beam fell. Sam felt lucky he wasn't hit by it. It was at this time that he realized if he hadn't tripped on the two by four, he would have actually been hit by this steel beam and could have been hurt or even killed. His eyes got big and at this moment he leaped.

Darkness. Nothing but darkness. The time in between leaps always seemed to drag. Sam was aware during this time however whatever had occurred in the previous leap was no longer a memory of his. His Swiss cheese memory lost this memory right after he leaped. Sometimes this time had taken days, weeks, even months. Sometimes on the other had it took minutes, even seconds. This was one of those times. Sam's eye opened up wide.


End file.
